Thursday, January 17, 2008

Reverse-Engineering Crafting

Wouldn't it be nice to find a nice Sword of Everlasting Pepper, and be able to tell how it's made? Check out the blade and learn about the crafting process; cut out the leather hilt to tell where it came from; or maybe analyze the enchantment to know how you, too, would be able to create spicy, delicious condiments at a moment's notice, astounding friends and foes alike with your culinary prowesses.

You would first go to your trainer, of course, asking if he, or any of his colleagues, knew how to create the desired ingredient-spawning magic. Learning that such an art is only known to a currently hostile population, but knowing that your life would have no meaning without the capacity to summon the indispensable treat at will, you would venture in a long trek along snaky roads and pointy mountains, braving dangers unknown to sentient-kind, only to yet again face death in the hands of the spicy masters. Claiming your prize, you would go along disassembling it, hoping you would be skillful enough to pinpoint and understand what, exactly, makes deadly arsenals create such a delightful supplement.

Playing a minigame of difficulty varying depending on the power of the knowledge or knowledges you seek proportional to your own, you hope that you can understand the mysteries of sharp and blunt seasoning before you completely ruin the weapon; should you fail, you would be forced to find another similarly powered item to once again attempt reverse-engineering the peppering process. Should you win, of course, you would be covered with glory; you would sell the final products to rich warriors hoping to add a little spice to their fights (horrible pun intended), and masters of the arts would travel from distant lands in hope of trading secrets with one such as you.

This is the only thing keeping you going, of course. Through freezing tundras or fiery volcanoes you march, with the only thought being of the power and glory that would be rightfully yours should you manage to bring the knowledge of such power to your undeserving homelands. Be proud, my friend, for your goal is noble. We will await you here, knowing, with each bland meal, that you are working hard to deliver us from our culinary impediments. Forward!